Rodeo Drive, Venice beach and Hollywood, LA

After going to Las Vegas, New York and Florida I had some big expectations about L.A. but there is one major difference; people actually live here.

I know that people live in those other places but when you visit them there are mainly tourists around. Los Angeles, however, had a nice mix. Santa Monica Boulevard was the nearest beach to our hotel and it was just as nice as expected. The busy main road can be heard from the beach and it doesn’t have the same attraction as Venice Beach but it’s still pretty good.

Rodeo Drive

Famous for its luxury shopping, premium price tags and its proper rich clientele, Rodeo Drive is beyond boring. There’s sod all atmosphere, the shops are ok if you’ve a) made an appointment and b) got sh*t loads of money. If you haven’t then the whole road is rather redundant. There’s also a lack of buzz in the bars and cafes in this two-mile long road. When we were wandering around the streets looking at the bored sales assistants a bellringer/mayor came up to us and asked for us all to have a picture together. We of course said yes because this was literally the most exciting thing that happened to us on Rodeo Drive.

I was so happy this day…

Never seen an emotional in a Manilow top?

Venice Beach

Before we went to L.A. my mum had heard from a friend that Venice Beach was the place to go. Well sod me sideways – it’s amazing. There’s so much character, atmosphere and fun to have on this beautiful stretch of beach. From the very flamboyant punks to the topless muscly men, Venice Beach is filled with everyone and anyone and they all seem to get on with each other in a beautiful way. I highly recommend going here over any other beach in L.A. Check out these music videos who have used Venice Beach as their location:

Hollywood and Walk of Fame

My hand is the same size as Michael Douglas which is probably the only thing that we have in common, that and a love for beautiful women, lolz bantz. Along the Walk of Fame and outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre are people/wannabe actors dressed as film characters. Captain Sparrow is a very popular choice of costume, there was about 100 of them. They’ll charge you $5 for a picture with them which is a bloody good business venture as a lot of kids were having their picture taken with the characters. The Hollywood sign is and looks exactly the same as you’d expect, and there is a touristy feel about the place. 19 year old me didn’t know many of the stars on the Walk of Fame, however now that I’m 28 I’m sure that I would be a lot more excited at seeing Bug Bunny’s star. Or perhaps not.

Too much eyeshadow or not enough?

Friends at last

Los Angeles is so big that I don’t think I saw even half of the place but what I did see was good, however, I don’t feel the need to return. You have to visit Venice beach, the Hollywood sign and the Walk of Fame; I’d also suggest exploring the Santa Monica Promenade but I would advise against going to Rodeo Drive. Unless you’ve got loads of money and are really boring.